DIY 700ft Pump Replacement Tips

[dcg4403]

Greetings. Great forum that has been extremely informative to me in my quest to replace the submersible pump in my 700 foot well after the historical winter storm in Texas. Attached some pictures to share of my setup with some setup hacks that I devised as a DIY-er.

For 2 weeks been without water for my family of 5 and not a single well company has been able to schedule a visit & only 2 have called me back. Needless to say, I have taken matters into my own hands. Plus, I just happen to own a 20 ton 40 foot crane truck which comes in handy. The pump failed likely due to a frozen exposed casing at or near ground level. I now realize the value in installing a pump saver!! Wish I knew this a month ago.

So I am in the process of pulling my pump. See pictures...this is a family affair and great experience for my kids. Was able to pull 140 feet of PVC down pipe yesterday evening. I will finish it up tomorrow morning.

I would greatly appreciate some feedback and best practices. Here are some of my most pressing questions? Oh, the well was drilled in 1997 or almost 25 years ago in my town of Dripping Springs, TX. The well pump directly feeds a 300 gal holding tank & was normally pushing 10 GPM when I purchased the property 5 years ago.

1) Should I reuse the threaded 20 foot PVC pipe 1-1/4" sections? So far, VISUALLY the pipe looks to be in very good condition. I am leaning on replacing with no good supportive logic other than being an OCD engineer.

2) Should I reuse the brass or possibly bronze couplers? If not, is stainless preferred? Again, if I replace the PVC, I was planning the same for couplers but stainless this time.

3) On same note, the submerged wiring to the pump? So far the wiring looks to be in very good condition. I did notice one 6" section that was originally heavily taped. I assume the installers possibly knicked the outer sheath (I will remove tape to inspect closely). My plan is to reuse due to the absorbent cost of 700 feet of new wiring for a 2hp pump.

4) I read a thread about secondary check valves but seemed to lack overall consensus. Should I install an additional check valve just above the pump? I saw that Simmons SS check valves are highly recommended. My personal conclusion on this subject was that most do NOT recommend a secondary check valve outside of the one internal to the pump. But I did see a video by Wendell Lee Well Services where they recommend installing 2 additional valves above the pump (seems to be a very legitimate well service company).

5) Any reason to go with another pump manufacturer other than Goulds?

6) Is mil-spec 2" well tape still the current preferred method to tape the electrical line to the down pipe? I ask as it seems that stainless zip ties might be a lot quicker and possibly more effective long term? Having said this, my nearly 25 year old tape is holding excellent.

7) Finally, is a relief valve needed at the well cap? The original system has one installed. If so, how do I size the valve appropriately?

I am probably missing something. If anyone has any additional tips or suggestions, much appreciated. I am very good at figuring things out with help from the internet & helpful forums like this. But first time to deal with a well to this magnitude and certainly don't want to learn the hard way!

Thank you so very much! Devin

 

[Valveman]

You can do it! As long as you don't mess up the wire by letting the wooden well plate smash it, you should be good. Normally the wire would stay between the wood slates so it doesn't get pinched underneath. Sch 80 or sch 120 Pipe with brass couplings can be reused. Any other type of pipe should be replaced with one of those. Since you are just filling a cistern, having a pressure relief valve on top of the well is OK. But as you found out it will freeze when the well head freezes, and not be any good to relieve the pressure when needed.

Goulds is fine, but there are LOTS of other brands just as good. When you go back in make sure the pulling nipple or bale is tight. When you screw the pipe in the air to the pipe in the well the bale will try to unscrew on top of the pipe in the air. Sometimes it will be holding by one thread when you pull the wooden slips, and the pump will fall in the well. Also, be careful to coil the well wire safely away from the well. If you drop the pump the wire will spool into the well so quickly it will take pipe wrenches and other stuff with it. Most important not to have a foot in the wire or be close enough it can drag a body part down the well is something falls.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

I have no relevant experience.

Note the water line on the pipe when you pull the pipe. It would tell you your static level.

You may want to leave out the steel safety rope/cable. However that does give you the opportunity to have somebody tie that off to a vehicle in case there is a slip. I don't know. Clearly you want to at least apply the kind of management that you would have for the wire. If that falls down the well, that would be very bad. Is your pipe schedule 120, or what?

Look at tools on https://www.deanbennettsupply.com/

Assuming you have the room, a flow inducer sleeve can cool the motor better, especially if your well is not bottom-feeding.

Your coupling in the photo looks more like stainless than brass, but cameras are not as good as in-person. The couplings look pretty strong, rather than the thinner stuff. My well is much shallower than yours. It had PVC (probably schedule 120) couplings on schedule 80 pvc. They replaced them with stainless steel, but PVC couplings for my depth well are perfectly good if you don't over-torque. I only bring that up to say that I have no reason to think that strong brass couplings are not as good as new stainless.

Well Safe makes sanitizing pellets that you can drop into the well before dropping the pump. They will fall to the bottom. I am not sure what the best for you is, but ordering up the right quantity in advance would probably be a good idea. My sanitizing writeup may give you some ideas, but it is mainly thinking of bottom-feeding wells that are not big enough to pass pellets around the pump. https://terrylove.com/forums/index....izing-extra-attention-to-4-inch-casing.65845/ The pH adjustment and flooding volume aspects may be of interest.

 

[dcg4403]

SUCCESS! It went very smoothly. We were able to pull a total of 26 sections of pipe so our pump was sitting at 520 feet (plus coupler lengths). There was 2 additional in-line check valves installed above the pump (one at 20 feet above pump and second was 60 feet above pump). The pump was shrouded (apparently they call this a flow inducer). Being 25 years old, I expected things not look so good. All the pipe and wiring appears to be in a great condition.

The pump was a Franklin 2HP, 10 amp (Model # 2243019204).

The entire effort was actually pretty easy with our crane truck. It took us a total of only 3 hours to do it.

So now, I'm getting my parts list back together and trying to make a decision on a replacement pump. The newer Franklin motor that matches this Model # is different. Not nearly was long and larger OD. The original pump is just under 3.75" OD which sleeves into a 4" ID sewage pipe (flow inducer). Our casing has ID just over 4-3/8". So I'm trying to install the same setup utilizing the original flow inducer pipe unless others would advice again.

I'm still debating if I should install new in-line back-up check valves. Clearly, this setup worked just fine in my original system. But seems more recent thinking has changed to not install them & rely solely on the built-in pump relief valve.

Ohhhh? One other thing, the wiring was a 10 AWG at 520 feet deep. Referencing charts, it appears 10 AWG is only rated to 390 feet on some charts while others state up to 456 feet deep. So at 520 feet, if I re-use the wiring, I'm not following AWG recommendations?

Devin

 

[Reach4]

So now, I'm getting my parts list back together and trying to make a decision on a replacement pump. The newer Franklin motor that matches this Model # is different.

The motor, and probably pump, have date codes on their labels.

he original pump is just under 3.75" OD which sleeves into a 4" ID sewage pipe (flow inducer). Our casing has ID just over 4-3/8". So I'm trying to install the same setup utilizing the original flow inducer pipe unless others would advice again.

Sounds potentially tight if a worm gear clamp goes around the pipe. There are different construction methods. I had an untried idea to let the clamp get pulled in a little tighter. https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/idea-for-flow-inducer-construction.86907/ Maybe show us a photo of your flow inducer construction.

AFAIK, 4-3/8 ID casing is unusual.

 

[Valveman]

The motor won't be as long as the old one, but should still be same diameter. The cable guard on the pump is the only thing over 3.5", so the shroud should fit back no problem. I show a 6% voltage drop in 520' of #10 cable at 14 amps. That wire size should be fine. I would put a good check valve on top of the check valve built into the Goulds pump, and not use any other check valves. Water hammer from those extra check valves could have very well been the reason for at least part of the motor failure.